Millwall v Brighton
| next = }} Millwall v Brighton & Hove Albion was a match which took place at the The Den on Sunday 17 March 2019. Brighton came from two goals down with two minutes left before beating 10-man Millwall on penalties to reach their first FA Cup semi-final since 1983. Millwall led with second-half goals from Alex Pearce and Aiden O'Brien. Jurgen Locadia made it 2-1 before Solly March levelled with a stoppage-time free-kick after a mistake by keeper David Martin. Millwall's Shane Ferguson was sent off in extra time, and Jake Cooper's miss gave Brighton a 5-4 shootout win. Brighton's Glenn Murray hit the bar with the first penalty of the shootout, but Seagulls' keeper Mat Ryan saved Mahlon Romeo's spot-kick with his foot to give his side hope. Lewis Dunk converted the first of the sudden death penalties. before Cooper put his attempt over the bar to hand victory to the Premier League side. Brighton felt they should have had a penalty for a push on Shane Duffy late in the first half, and Murray appeared to have been pushed over in the build-up to Pearce's opener, but there was no video assistant referee in operation to check either call. Millwall had stepped up after a lacklustre first half and were close to making the last four for the first time since 2013, when they lost to eventual winners Wigan Athletic. Ferguson was shown a straight red card late in extra time after bringing his boot down the back of Duffy's leg, and Locadia had the ball in the Millwall net with seconds remaining but the Brighton substitute was flagged for offside. Video replays showed that that Martin Montoya was just onside as the ball was played to him before his pass to Locadia, but in the end the decision did not matter with Brighton winning through to a semi-final at Wembley against Manchester City. With two consecutive wins in the league easing fears over Brighton's top-flight status, Chris Hughton's attitude towards the competition he won twice as a player was shown by the strong side that he named. However, the Brighton manager's substitutions proved to be vital, with the extra energy from Locadia, March and Jose Izquierdo helping to give their side momentum after they had fallen 2-0 behind. It had taken a long time for Brighton to assert themselves, and Baram Kayal's shot just before the half-hour was their first effort on target. Kayal had a better chance with a header that Martin saved low to his right before the break, but Brighton stalled in the second half when faced with a much-improved Millwall side. Locadia's shot on the turn gave Brighton hope, and then a dreadful error from Martin, who allowed March's free kick to go through his hands while under no pressure at all, put the game into the extra half-hour. Ryan's excellent save low to his left denied James Meredith early in extra time, and despite a wrong offside call that thwarted Locadia, Brighton held their nerve to see the club into the FA Cup's last four for the first time since they finished as runners-up to Manchester United in a replayed final 36 years ago. Match Details O'Brien Ferguson |goals2 = Locadia March |penaltyscore = 4–5 |penalties1 = Williams Tunnicliffe Leonard Romeo Morison Cooper |penalties2 = Murray Locadia March Pröpper Stephens Dunk |stadium = The Den, London |attendance = 17,137 |referee = Chris Kavanagh }} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| |} See also *FA Cup 2018-19 External links *Match report at BBC.co.uk Category:2018-19 Match Day info Category:Millwall F.C. matches Category:Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. matches